Users of a telephone or cellular network may arrange a conference call connection between several callers. Generally, a conference call is a voice call set up between two or more users that other users may also join to establish a live voice call between three or more participants. During a conference call every participating user can normally talk, and at a minimum, hear the voices of other participants. A conference call is a useful tool by which it is possible to arrange telephone meetings quickly and easily.
To participate in a conventional conference call, a user may dial a first number of a conference call service phone number, enter a second number on the touch pad of the phone to identify the conference call by a conference call code and/or may even enter a third number which may represent a passcode.
A conference call begins by establishing a telephone connection between one or more of the intended participants. A user may dial into a third party conference call service and wait for others to join the same conference call. Alternatively, one of the current participants may open a new telephone connection by calling another participant. These processes may be repeated numerous times until all participants have joined the conference call.
In another example of a conventional conference call, the calling party may desire to have more than one called party listen to the audio portion of the call without being able to communicate with the other parties. A conference call may be designed to either allow the called party to participate during the call, or instead, the called party merely listens in on the call and cannot speak which is referred to as an audio tele-conference (ATC).
Conference calls may be designed to allow the calling party (call initiator or host) to call other participants and add them to the group of conference call participants. In some cases, the participants may be able to call into the conference call themselves without being called first. A participant may connect to a conference call by dialing into a conference bridge which may be a particular type of conference call hardware device that links telephone lines together, or a third party service that performs the bridging of participants.
Certain conference call service companies may offer a specialized service for conference calls. These service providers maintain the conference bridge, and provide the phone numbers and access codes necessary to access the conference call.
Businesses use conference calls daily to meet with remote parties, both internally and outside of their company. Common applications are client meetings or sales presentations, project meetings and updates, regular team meetings, training classes and communication to employees who work in different locations. Conference calling is viewed as a primary means of cutting travel costs and allowing workers to be more productive by not having to go out-of-office for meetings.
Conference calls are increasingly being used with web conferences, where presentations or documents are shared via the internet to complement the conference call. Conference calls are also beginning to cross over into the world of podcasting and social networking, which in turn offers new kinds of live interaction. Live streaming or broadcasting of conference calls allows a larger audience access to the call without dialing in to a bridge. In addition, organizers of conference calls can publish a dial-in number alongside the audio stream, creating potential for audience members to dial in if they wish to interact with the other group participants.
Conference calls can also be used for entertainment or social purposes, such as the party line or a group call. People call in to a specified telephone number, and are connected to conversations with other callers. This serves as a way to talk with and perhaps, subsequently, meet new people. However, conference calls are most commonly used by businesses.
In practice, the procedures described above for establishing a conference call may be slow and tedious. For example, a user may have to remember the telephone number of the conference call service, a conference call identification number, and in addition, may also require username and password information. Furthermore, these procedures may require conference call participants to have prior knowledge of the system operation to understand how the conference call operates. Many telephone users are not familiar with how to setup the conference call due to lack of experience with such services.
Conventional wireline and cellular telephones do not readily present conference call features to the users allowing them to identify with these types of services. Due to the difficulties related to establishing a conference call, the use of conference calls continues to be less common, although, in certain situations it would be clearly more useful and appropriate than a traditional telephone call.
New and advanced methods and applications for arranging conference calls may increase the chances that such services are used. Additionally, arranging a conference call to be easily and efficiently set up and used by users of a cellular telephone network may increase the likelihood of user's employing conference call services.